Aller Conjugation in French: Complete Charts, Tenses, and Examples

Key takeaways

• Aller (to go) is one of the most irregular French verbs. Its present tense forms (vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont) come from three different Latin roots, which is why they look nothing alike.
• Aller uses être (not avoir) as its auxiliary verb in compound tenses: je suis allé (I went), elle est allée (she went). The past participle allé agrees with the subject.
• The near future (futur proche) is formed with aller + infinitive: je vais manger (I am going to eat), nous allons partir (we are going to leave). It is the most commonly used future expression in everyday French.
• Aller appears in essential everyday phrases: comment allez-vous? (how are you?), ça va? (how’s it going?), and allons-y (let’s go).

Aller is one of the first verbs you encounter in French and one of the most irregular. The present tense looks like three different verbs stitched together, it switches to être in compound tenses, and it builds the most common future structure in everyday French.

Each of these features causes learner errors if they are not addressed clearly. italki connects learners with French teachers who can catch aller errors in real conversation and correct them before wrong forms become habits.

This guide covers aller conjugation across all major tenses with full charts, example sentences, its use in the near future, and the everyday expressions built from aller.

Aller in the present tense

Aller’s present tense is fully irregular. The forms come from three different Latin verbs that merged in French over centuries: vadere (to go), ire (to go), and ambulare (to walk).

Pronoun	Aller	Pronunciation	Example
je	vais	VEH	Je vais au bureau. (I am going to the office.)
tu	vas	VAH	Tu vas où? (Where are you going?)
il / elle / on	va	VAH	Elle va bien. (She is doing well.)
nous	allons	ah-LOHN	Nous allons au marché. (We are going to the market.)
vous	allez	ah-LAY	Vous allez à Paris? (Are you going to Paris?)
ils / elles	vont	VOHN	Ils vont partir demain. (They are going to leave tomorrow.)

The jump from vais/vas/va to allons/allez to vont is the most irregular pattern in French. There is no shortcut: these six forms must be memorized as a complete set.

Work with a French language tutor to drill aller present-tense forms in quick-fire sentence prompts before moving on to compound tenses.

Aller in the near future

The futur proche (near future) is the most widely used future structure in spoken French. It is formed with the present tense of aller + an infinitive.

Formula: aller (present) + infinitive

French	English
Je vais manger.	I am going to eat.
Tu vas appeler?	Are you going to call?
Il va pleuvoir.	It is going to rain.
Nous allons partir à 9h.	We are going to leave at 9.
Vous allez aimer ça.	You are going to love this.
Elles vont arriver bientôt.	They are going to arrive soon.

Negative form: Put ne…pas around the aller verb.

• Je ne vais pas manger maintenant. (I am not going to eat right now.)
• Elle ne va pas venir. (She is not going to come.)

Question forms:

• Tu vas partir? (informal question by intonation)
• Est-ce que tu vas partir? (standard question)
• Vas-tu partir? (formal inversion)

The futur proche is preferred over the futur simple (je mangerai, etc.) in most everyday spoken French for near-term plans and intentions. The futur simple is more common in written French and for events further in the future.

Aller in the passé composé

Aller uses être as its auxiliary in compound tenses. The past participle is allé, and it agrees with the subject in gender and number.

Pronoun	Passé composé	Feminine form	Example
je	suis allé	suis allée	Je suis allé(e) au cinéma.
tu	es allé	es allée	Tu es allé(e) à la gym?
il / elle	est allé	est allée	Elle est allée en vacances.
nous	sommes allés	sommes allées	Nous sommes allé(e)s au restaurant.
vous	êtes allé(s)	êtes allée(s)	Vous êtes allé(e)(s) au concert?
ils / elles	sont allés	sont allées	Elles sont allées faire du shopping.

Agreement rules:

• Masculine singular: allé
• Feminine singular: allée (add -e)
• Masculine plural: allés (add -s)
• Feminine plural: allées (add -es)

The agreement is visible in writing and sometimes audible in speech (allée has a slightly fuller sound than allé).

Auxiliary choice becomes clearer when you study avoir conjugation in French alongside être verbs, because avoir is the default auxiliary for most French compound tenses.

Aller in the imperfect

The imperfect of aller is regular in formation, using the stem all- + imperfect endings.

Pronoun	Imparfait	Example
j’	allais	J’allais souvent à la piscine. (I often used to go to the pool.)
tu	allais	Tu allais au lycée avec elle? (Did you go to school with her?)
il / elle	allait	Il allait travailler en vélo. (He used to cycle to work.)
nous	allions	Nous allions au marché le samedi. (We used to go to the market on Saturdays.)
vous	alliez	Vous alliez souvent au théâtre? (Did you often go to the theatre?)
ils / elles	allaient	Ils allaient en vacances en août. (They used to go on holiday in August.)

The imperfect of aller is used for repeated past actions, habits, and background description. The passé composé (je suis allé) is for specific, completed actions.

Aller in the future simple

The futur simple of aller is built on the stem ir-, which comes from the Latin verb ire.

Pronoun	Futur simple	Example
j’	irai	J’irai te voir la semaine prochaine. (I will come to see you next week.)
tu	iras	Tu iras à l’université l’année prochaine? (Will you go to university next year?)
il / elle	ira	Elle ira en France cet été. (She will go to France this summer.)
nous	irons	Nous irons ensemble. (We will go together.)
vous	irez	Vous irez directement à l’hôtel. (You will go directly to the hotel.)
ils / elles	iront	Ils iront voter demain. (They will go to vote tomorrow.)

The stem ir- is different from aller’s other stems (v- for present, all- for imperfect). This makes the future forms look completely different from any other form of the verb.

Aller in the conditional

The conditional uses the same stem as the future (ir-) with the imperfect endings.

Pronoun	Conditionnel	Example
j’	irais	J’irais bien en vacances maintenant. (I would quite like to go on holiday right now.)
tu	irais	Tu irais où si tu pouvais? (Where would you go if you could?)
il / elle	irait	Il irait volontiers. (He would go willingly.)
nous	irions	Nous irions si nous avions le temps. (We would go if we had the time.)
vous	iriez	Vous iriez sans moi? (Would you go without me?)
ils / elles	iraient	Elles iraient, mais c’est trop cher. (They would go, but it is too expensive.)

An online French teacher can run conditional scenarios (what would you do if…?) that make the conditional of aller and other verbs feel natural rather than theoretical.

Aller in the subjunctive

The subjunctive of aller is irregular and must be learned separately.

Pronoun	Subjonctif présent	Example
que j’	aille	Il faut que j’aille chez le médecin. (I need to go to the doctor.)
que tu	ailles	Je veux que tu ailles les voir. (I want you to go and see them.)
qu’il / elle	aille	Bien qu’il aille mieux… (Although he is doing better…)
que nous	allions	Il faut que nous allions ensemble. (We need to go together.)
que vous	alliez	Je suis content que vous alliez. (I am glad you are going.)
qu’ils / elles	aillent	Avant qu’ils aillent… (Before they go…)

The subjunctive forms of aller (aille, ailles, aille, allions, alliez, aillent) are triggered by expressions of necessity (il faut que), desire (je veux que), doubt, and emotion.

Everyday expressions with aller

Expression	Literal meaning	Actual use
Comment allez-vous?	How are you going?	Formal: How are you?
Comment vas-tu?	How are you going?	Informal: How are you?
Ça va?	It goes?	Very casual: How’s it going?
Ça va.	It goes.	I’m fine. / It’s okay.
Allons-y.	Let us go there.	Let’s go.
On y va?	We go there?	Shall we go? / Ready?
Va! / Vas-y!	Go! / Go there!	Go! / Go ahead!
Comment ça va?	How does it go?	How are things?
Ça ne va pas.	It is not going.	Something is wrong. / I am not well.
Il va de soi que…	It goes without saying that…	Obviously…
Ça va sans dire.	That goes without saying.	It is obvious.

Ça va is one of the first French phrases most learners encounter. Its flexibility (question, answer, and neutral statement) makes it worth understanding fully. Ça va? (rising intonation) asks how you are. Ça va (flat intonation) answers fine.

Practice aller in real French

Aller is unavoidable from the first week of French study. Its present-tense irregularity, its être auxiliary, its ir- future stem, and its role in the futur proche make it a verb that touches almost every tense and every conversation.

Getting aller fully automatic requires more than table study. It requires producing the right form under conversational pressure: answering a quick question (tu vas où?) without pausing to remember whether to say vais or ais. italki has 30,000+ expert tutors trusted by over 10 million learners worldwide, with French tutors who can make aller-based conversation the focus of a targeted session. Book a trial lesson and practice the futur proche, the passé composé with être, and the everyday expressions that make this verb essential.

FAQ

What is the difference between aller and partir?

Both relate to going or leaving, but with different focus. Aller emphasizes the destination: je vais à Paris (I am going to Paris). Partir emphasizes the departure point: je pars maintenant (I am leaving now). Partir rarely takes a destination with à; aller almost always does.

Do French speakers use the futur proche or the futur simple more in everyday speech?

The futur proche (je vais + infinitive) dominates in spoken French for near-term plans and intentions. The futur simple (j’irai, elle finira) is more common in written French and for events further in the future, or to sound more formal. In casual conversation, using aller + infinitive for almost any future reference is natural and correct.

What are the most common mistakes English speakers make with aller?

Three stand out. First, using avoir instead of être in the passé composé: saying j’ai allé instead of je suis allé. Second, forgetting past participle agreement: writing je suis allé for a female speaker instead of je suis allée. Third, mixing up the future stems: trying to say j’allerai instead of j’irai, because the ir- future stem looks nothing like aller.